Capacity utilization measures what share of industrial capacity in the United States is currently in use. It is one of the chief measures of the output gap - how much we are producing versus how much we could be producing - and thereby an excellent indicator of productive slack in the economy.

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NOTES: Total refers to all industries measured - manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Manufacturing is often sub-divided into durable and non-durable goods production. Durable goods are those that yield a service for an extended period of time. The motor vehicles series in the capacity utilization datasets includes the motor vehicle parts sub-sector.